Review: The Little Professional P.I.N.K. Book of Success

About a month ago I was contacted by the Director of Monday Smiles, a self development company located in LA, California. Somehow a woman named Erica Moore-Burton, Esq. had come across my little ol’ blog (that wasn’t even up for a month yet!) and thought I might be interested in reviewing her book. From reading the still very limited content I had up, she saw that I had an interest in self-development and growth. Not only that, she saw that I love the color pink which clearly meant that I would appreciate the title of her self-help book, The Little Professional P.I.N.K. Book of Success. Excited about the opportunity, I replied and said, “OF COURSE I would love to check out your book.” And so it happened that despite my current reading hiatus, I dug into a little self-help book dedicated to young women like myself.
To know me is to know my love for reading. To really know me is to know that I barely read professional development or self-help books. But lately, due to all of the great recommendations that have been coming my way from colleagues and friends, I’ve started getting my hands on more and more of them. This book was definitely one of the most relevant for me because of where I am in my life and career. It is a small book with twelve succinct chapters on topics ranging from goal setting to support systems to health and success – all topics that deeply interest me. There were things I loved about this book as well as aspects I didn’t love so much. Allow me to share.

What I loved about this book:

There is an emphasis on passion and purpose.
The author delved into both of these within the first ten pages. If you can’t already tell from my blog’s subtitle, I’m very into the discovery of and nurturing of passions, as I believe that they play a critical role in the fulfillment of one’s purpose. And while that’s a topic I’m saving to discuss another day, the authors message immediately began to resonate with me when she brought it up.

It’s full of quotes.
I love quotes! I put them on my Facebook statuses, my twitter timeline, my gchat statuses, my Tumblr and even in my personal journal on my nightstand. They are in as many places they need to be to keep me inspired and motivated to do what it is I’m doing. The Little Professional P.I.N.K. Book of Success is full to the brim with quotes. On average, there is one on each page, and all of them are relevant to the topic being discussed.

She told stories.
Storytelling is the most powerful means to get a message across. It naturally draws people in and allows for your message to spread more easily than it otherwise might. Erica Moore-Burton does an excellent job with this throughout most of the book. As a young woman in the early stages of her career, I am intrigued by other women’s stories of success, failure, triumph, etc. Not only do these stories provide the advice I need as I make my own decisions throughout my career, tey also allow me to feel connected with the individual in a way I would not have felt by simply hearing their advice.

What I didn’t love as much about this book:

The self-assessments felt like homework.
I understand that some people really enjoy and appreciate the activities placed in self-help books. I also get that they are very effective when you are trying to get people to shift their mindsets. However, they always feel like homework to me; and I’m just not a fan of feeling like I have to do something (unless it brings in a paycheck…). I will admit, though, that about half of the self-assessments really did seem worthwhile and I actually considered going back to them at some point. I will keep you posted.

This book truly is for the new professional.
As you know, I definitely consider myself to be a young professional; however there were some things in the book that I felt were very obvious pieces of advice. That’s likely due to the fact that I’m passionate about professional and self-development, have read a lot on many of the topics she’s written about in the book, as well as reflected on a lot of it. If it wasn’t for my natural interest in the topic, I might not have kept reading to get those nuggets in the various chapters that were completely new for me. The reason why I even think this is an issue is because I’d like to think that the woman who seek books like this would have heard much of the basic professional insights the author touched on.

All in all, The Little Professional P.I.N.K. Book of Success was a quick and valuable read, one that I am excited to share with my peers and other young women I come across who are looking to thrive professionally.